James Sweeney

La Jolla High School

Class of 1965

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James Sweeney - Class of 1965 - La Jolla High School

First Name	James
Last Name	Sweeney
Graduation Year	Class of 1965
Gender	Male
Current Location	Los Altos, CA
Hometown	La Jolla
Relationship Status	Married
About Me	I’m a retired teacher. I completed my teaching credential at UCSB in 1970 and started my high school teaching career at Arcadia High School teaching social studies and coaching football and wrestling (the two sports I played as a Viking). After finishing an education masters I was hired to teach in the Panama Canal Zone in 1972 where my wife grew up. We both taught there until 1999 when the US left and the Canal became totally owned by Panama. I most enjoyed coaching whatever sports needed a teacher as coach. Besides football and intramural wrestling I picked up jobs coaching swimming, track, tennis, men’s volleyball, and various intramural activities. I taught a variety of social studies courses over 27 years in Panama, plus a few years PE. Most of my career was at Balboa High School but I also taught a few years at Curundu Junior High and Panama Canal College my favorite job. We raised four kids in Panama and had to move nine times because of the political changes and violent problems in Panama. We spent a wonder sabbatical year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where I completed courses so I could teach history at our community college. I started a rugby club and coached, reffed and played for many years. Each spring break was the Ocean to Ocean Cayyco Race I. Dugout canoes through the canal. All my kids did it and I did it many times. Won several with my crews in the adult category. We hauled our cayuco from Panama to California when we left. In 1999 when our schools closed I was able to retire early under provisions of legislation enacted by Congress due to the Panama Canal Treaty that gave us special consideration for the years we remained after Panama took over the Canal Zone, which used to be run the the US as if it was an American territory. My wife didn’t have enough years to retire so she transferred to a DoD school in Japan and I went as a dependent, coaching part time, teaching English to Japanese, and teaching for a community college online. I finished a Ph.D. In education by distance education and started masters in anthropology and humanities/history while there by distance education. We did some traveling including a round the world airline hop from city to city Japan to the US via Asia and Europe and back to Japan one summer. After five years in Japan my wife transferred to Italy for four years. I finished my two masters and picked up teaching with the University of Maryland University College as an assistant professor teaching history and anthropology. After out time in Italy we transferred for four more years to the beach in Rota, Spain. I continued teaching on base and online with the two colleges and volunteered to help coach track. My wife retired in 2012. We bought a house near our daughter north of Atlanta to put all our stuff in and then moved to Los Altos in what had been my parents’ last home, where we live now and occasionally visit our house in Georgia. We now have eight grandkids. I have got into writing novels about the origin of the Black Caribs of St. Vincent Island an interest that began with research on a history thesis for my masters degree. I have self published two novels and enjoy a writing life but haven’t sold many books. I am working on revising seven more. I enjoy paddling with a Hawaiian outrigger club and have gone to two international sprint races, one in London where our 75 and over crew took 3rd and another in Hilo in 2024. I still enjoy going to a few local high school football games remembering my time playing for the Vikings and later UCSB, and coaching in Panama for many years. I go to UCSB football ...(read more)